The Quality of Mercy
by Cyranothe2nd
Summary: In answer to the "Voldemort's Bargain" challenge on WIKTT, what if the Dark Lord offered Snape the thing he wants most...Hermione Granger? A one-shot. Please RR


In answer to the Voldemort's Bargain challenge on WIKTT, here is a one-shot. For those not familiar with the challenge, here are the rules.

_Voldemort's Bargain_

_Voldemort has a sneaking suspicion that Severus Snape isn't 100 loyal to him. But the sneaky Professor has more Skills than Voldemort wants to lose. So he makes a bargain with Snape. In appreciation for his loyalty and to ensure that Snape stays that way. If he'll betray the Order Voldemort offers Snape the thing that he wants most in the whole world- Hermione Granger. _

_The Challenge- Does Snape take Voldemort up on his offer and betray the Order of the Phoenix for something that _

_Dumbledore could never give him?_

_Requirements-_

_1. Voldemort asking Snape to "Take a walk." to offer him the bargain (extra if Lucius is jealous)_

_2. A fantasy of Snape's as to how it could be- one way or the other i.e. if he takes up the offer or not._

_3. "My dear, you should NEVER trust a Malfoy."_

_4. Someone getting a slap for being a self-righteous whining little brat._

_5. Snape's deliberation over which way to go._

_6. A potions class in which Hermione hits Draco._

**Note: I do not own HP or any of the characters therein; I just take them out to play with every once and awhile.**

**This fic takes place in 6th Year. Please read and review.**

**The Quality of Mercy**

Severus Snape was not by nature a merciful man. Cruelty and penury had taught him early in life that to forgive was to be weak and to forget was to be dead. That lesson had served him very well after the night Voldemort had fallen and he saw no reason to discontinue its practice in his daily life. But right now a pair of watery brown eyes was making him if not rethink, then call into question, his previous resolution.

"Miss Granger, you will explain yourself this instant."

Hermione Granger was standing in front of his desk, her head down and her eyes full of tears. Weasley and Potter stood to either side of her defensively, as though he would attack her at any moment.

_If they only knew._ Snape mused.

"Malfoy called her a Mu-"

"I believe I asked Miss Granger to explain, Mr. Weasley." The boy's ears grew pink at Snape's rebuke.

"It's true sir. Malfoy called me a foul name and he…well, he said something very nasty about my parents." Her voice was quavery but her tearful eyes were begging him to understand.

"And so you thought it necessary to disrupt my classroom by striking Mr. Malfoy?"

Snape would never admit it but the image of Hermione Granger standing over Lucius' son, her hand upraised and her face flushed, would be the highlight of his day. It was about time the whining little brat got what was coming to him.

"I'm sorry Professor." The girl looked as though she were going to the gallows. "Please don't expel me sir."

"It would give me much satisfaction to see the last of you Miss Granger. However, that is for your Head of House to decide. But I can tell you that you will not be returning to my classroom again."

Hermione's eyes widened and Weasley sputtered.

"But...But sir, you can't!" Potter protested.

Snape smiled thinly. "I can and I did. Miss Granger, gather your things and go." And as the girl seemed inclined to stand and stare at him in astonishment he hissed, "Now!"

She turned and with trembling hands gathered her cauldron and books. Her back was straight and she refused to look at him as she left the potion's classroom. Weasley and Potter left behind her, looking daggers at him.

_Good._ Snape thought spitefully. _Let them think on that before they disrupt my class again._

Unfortunately Dumbledore wasn't so inclined.

"I believe you were too hard on her Severus. After all, she did not act without provocation."

"Will you overturn my punishment Headmaster?" It was Dumbledore's right but he had never exercised it before.

"No." He said after a moment. "I will not. But I will ask you seriously to rethink it."

_Yes._ Snape thought as he left the Headmaster's office. _I will seriously think of ways to throw out Potter and Weasley too. _

But Snape had no time to dwell on happy thoughts of Potter-free classrooms. Lucius was waiting in the fire in his chambers.

"He wants to see you." Lucius said.

Snape felt his heart claw up his throat. The panic at the thought of being found out was nothing new and he pushed it back down easily, keeping his face impassive as he said,

"A moment." He changed quickly from his school robes into his Deatheater garb. Not much of a difference but the Dark Lord noticed everything. Snape took a moment to still his mind, to set his barriers. The Dark Lord often used Legilimency on him and there were many things that Snape would not wish the Dark Lord to see. He breathed deeply for a few moments, building up a wall of inner white noise, carefully concealing some things, and modifying others. Lucius' head in the fire began to look impatient.

"Ready." Snape said. Lucius withdrew his head and Snape took a handful of powder and stepped into the fire. When he emerged it was into a red room. The walls, the floor, the ceiling; everything was the color of blood. None of the Deatheaters knew the exact location of this room but they could floo or apparate there if the Dark Lord willed it. Snape scanned the room now, not letting his eyes linger too long on the cages. They were small iron medieval looking things suspended from the ceiling and inside them were Muggles in various stages of dying. Sometimes they would scream or call out when a new person arrived but today the Dark Lord had put a silencing charm on them and so Snape was spared their pleas for mercy.

There was no one there, besides himself and Lucius. The Mark on his arm was not burning. Not a Revel then.

A door opened at the far side of the room and a skeletal figure stepped through. Both men prostrated themselves and Voldemort glided across the room, followed closely by Wormtail.

"Lucius, good, you have brought him."

"Yes, my Lord." Lucius murmured beside him. A hand reached out and lifted Snape to his feet.

"Severus." Snape felt a shudder rip through him as Voldemort spoke his name. Names had power, he knew. It felt horribly intimate and strange to hear his given name on the Dark Lord's lips. It felt like a violation. He raised his eyes to the Dark Lord's face. He had sensed Snape's unease and he was smiling. It was terrible.

"Come Severus, walk with me. There is something important I wish to discuss with you. Lucius, you may go."

Snape caught Malfoy's eyes as the Dark Lord turned away. For just a moment there was something bright and malevolent burning in them. Then Lucius' usual blank mask smoothed his face into unruffled lines. He murmured assent but Snape was sure that he had seen jealousy on Malfoy's face. He followed behind the Dark Lord, pondering this.

Malfoy was jealous of him. Stupid that he had not seen this before. Wasn't it his mother who had always told him, "My dear, you must _never_ trust a Malfoy."? And Snape had taken that very much to heart. He had never trusted his mentor and he knew that Lucius did not trust him. But he had not suspected that Lucius would be jealous of his position. It was dangerous to draw attention to himself in this way. He would have to be very careful in the future.

"Come Nagini." Snape heard the Dark Lord call and felt something sinuous caress his leg. A huge snake slithered past him, winding itself up the thin skeletal body of the Dark Lord, wrapping itself around him like a lover until its head was resting on his shoulder. Snape suppressed another shudder.

The Dark Lord let him to the corner of the room with the cages. A small door opened to the side and they stepped through into another room. It was dark but no less spacious then the one they had just left. Three walls were filled with shelves and they were all stuffed with books, scrolls, and maps. Papers covered a table in the center of the room. On one wall a massive fireplace lit two chairs and threw the figure of the Dark Lord into sharp relief. Snape took in the books and papers at a glace.

_He is still trying to understand the prophecy._ Snape thought, but banished it almost immediately. It was not healthy to think of the prophecy at that moment.

"My study. Many of my Deatheaters have never seen it. Please sit." The Dark Lord gestured to a chair beside the fireplace. Snape took it and Voldemort took the one opposite. The shadows thrown by the fire obscured his face but not the red glitter of his eyes. Snape felt those eyes scanning him, prying into his thoughts. He held his walls tight, letting only the barest of surface thoughts leak through. The Dark Lord sifted through them like a woman sifts through a jewelry box, picking up and examining some things and discarding others. The image of Dumbledore's face swam into his mind and Snape superimposed his feelings about his father onto it; hatred, jealousy, the urge to destroy. He could feel the Dark Lord's amusement and the image was discarded and replaced by another, Hermione Granger standing over Draco Malfoy after she had slapped him. Snape tried to fill himself with the loathing he should have felt for her blood but the Dark Lord was quicker. He caught the undercurrent of warmth, and something else…

"You desire the girl." Severus opened his eyes, feeling sick. He bowed his head.

"Granger is nothing but a know-it-all Mudblood." He said.

"Yes, and you are right to despise her. She and her kind are a blight on our world. And yet…" The Dark Lord held out the word. "Yet, she could be amusing."

The Dark Lord reached out one finger and set it under Snape's chin, looking deeply into his eyes. A thought floated out to him and Snape saw an image of Hermione Granger tied to a bed, naked and writhing with need. And himself standing above her.

"Please." She whispered. "Please, Severus!" She sounded desperate and beaten. Broken. Snape felt his whole body surge in response. Then the image was pulled away and he opened his eyes to find the Dark Lord still staring at him.

"You desire her." He repeated. "And I desire your loyalty."

Snape looked back at him, shaken by the admission and by his own response. "You doubt my loyalty?" He asked, letting his voice betray nothing.

The Dark Lord leaned back into the shadows of his chair.

_If he truly suspected me I would be dead._ Snape thought. _A test then._

"You are my most loyal servant, save one." The Dark Lord said at last. "You risk much. But you do not take what you wish. This is a failing. The girl could be yours. The world could be yours."

Snape bowed his head again, exhaling a breath. He knew how to answer now. He was back on solid ground.

"The world is yours, my Lord. I do not desire it. I desire nothing but to serve you."

He felt the Dark Lord's hand on his head like a benediction.

"You will have all you desire when Dumbledore is dead. I will give you everything you dream of, including the girl. Your loyalty will be rewarded. This I promise you."

The vision of Hermione Granger begging him to take her was once more pushing into his mind.

"Yes my Lord." He murmured, feeling cold.

He did not return to his rooms until well after dark. He shrugged off his Deatheater robes and slipped into bed. An arm wound round his waist and he was pulled into a warm body.

"You were a little hard on me today Sev." Chided a voice out of the darkness.

"You must learn control." He responded.

"I think you just wanted me to beg." She said teasingly. The dark image that he had seen earlier burned into his mind and he took her into his arms and in the end, she _did_ beg him.

"Please Severus, oh please!"

And Snape felt mercy tugging at the corners of his soul and he gave in.

"Very well, Hermione." He said and thrust into her.

Later he would tell Dumbledore that he had rethought it and would allow her back. But tonight, as he laid with her in a tangle of arms and legs, he knew there was little thought involved. The girl was teaching him mercy. And Snape sincerely hoped that he would never regret his weakness.


End file.
